Concrete overlay is term used to describe a hard veneer commonly used to produce a hard and durable surface on top of a concrete floor or deck. In prior art products and methods, to create such a veneer, concrete is provided as one of the ingredients. In the process of forming the concrete overlay, a bonder or primer coat is applied to an existing concrete underfloor. Then, a layer of a material including Portland cement fortified with an acrylic emulsion is applied. This material layer provides an increase in the bonding efficiency and gives the veneer some flexibility. Color, colored chips, stones, or other particulate matter can be added into the overlay mixture before, in, and/or on top of the concrete veneer. The veneer is allowed to dry and, when dry, the veneer can be stained or color-washed to produce a decorative color surface.
There are problems associated with such prior art concrete veneers and veneer processes, the most prominent of which is that it can be used to produce only limited decorative effects. The material is opaque and cannot offer any depth of color, even when color is applied on top or mixed into the veneer. Thus, any further overlaying of concrete or concrete veneer on top of a first layer will opaque or entirely block out the underlying artwork and/or color, rendering this artwork undetectable. Moreover, it is difficult to produce any kind of thin decorative stencil patterns or other decorative effects with this cementaceous material due to its physical properties and to the irregular sandy nature of the concrete itself. Also, if color chips are added or applied on top of the wet concrete veneer, they can only produce random color specks in the concrete material.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a concrete veneer that, when applied, does not visually opaque the underlying artwork or color and that allows addition of color and other visual effects, such as chips, that can be seen to varying depths within the veneer. It would further be desirable for the applied veneer to permit sharp, and even, and thin definitions in artwork using the same new veneering material and, thereby, produce decorative effects.